WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE

Adam4d does some exceptional work when it comes to comics, and the strip above is one good example. Living life on the straight and narrow is not easy; and not only do you have to battle the demons inside, the people around you do not make life any easier. Life is challenging, because it has challenges and whichever way you turn, you are either pulled or pushed in every other direction than the one you are supposed to go, the one you know in your heart of hearts, that our Father has called you to walk in. No wonder then, Paul said,

“What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.” Romans 7:15 [MSG]

“But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me?” Romans 7:17-24 [MSG]

Yet we know there is hope. For

“The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” Romans 7:25 [MSG]But looking at the bills that are piling up, the loved one lying sick in bed; or facing that barking dog of a boss that is the first unfortunate face that greets you at the office every day, the words of Paul is scarce comfort. We want action from God, deliverance from our Father, and we want it yesterday. True?

Yet we need to realize that in real and practical terms, our Father has moved, things have changed. Because Jesus has come and redeemed us, the world we are living in now is so different from times past that if an old testament great like David were to be alive now, God only knows, literally, just how more joyous he would have been to see this day. So let us take a step back from our lives, stop and smell the reality that our Father has already created for us, and see why from here on in, there is no reason left for us to worry about the future.

The Psalms were spawn of David’s reflection and revelation received, so when he says that our Father’s testimonies are wonderful, you can be sure that David was not high on Egyptian weed and imagining things. So what wonderful things had our Father done to leave such a wonderful testimony to David?

You have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them—“a land flowing with milk and honey.”” Jeremiah 32:21-22

Yes, our Father brought Israel out of Egypt and worked wonders in their collective history. Now, any nation serious about winning the hearts and minds of their people will constantly narrate their founding histories. They want to ensure that the people share a common story, regardless of which generation they belong to, so that they can forge a common identity and foster social unity. This is an accepted practice amongst governments even today and is commonly practiced. So you can be sure that the exodus story had been narrated to the young men and women of Israel from the time they were nursing infants.

But personally, our Father was also real to David. Remember the lions and bears?

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.”” 1 Samuel 17:34-35

Even as a boy, our Father was real to David and David could see our Father’s fingerprints on his life, even in the small things. And the small things did not stay small, did they? They were but a prelude of things to come.

“Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”” 1 Samuel 17:36-37

And we know what happened.

Then remember Saul?

“Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David;” 1 Samuel 19:1

When Saul got jealous of David’s success and wanted to kill him, our Father was also with him and made sure that David found favor and protection from Jonathan, Saul’s son.

“Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you.” 1 Samuel 19:1-3

Now what about the time when David sinned? His sin was no less than murder, for David deliberately sent Uriah to the frontline, knowing that he would be killed, just so David could have Uriah’s wife. Even under those circumstances, our Father was merciful.

“So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”” 2 Samuel 12:13-14

Sure, David’s son died. But David was spared. And personally, I think that from the words of Nathan, we can safely conclude that our Father knew what emotional torment David’s son would have had to go through because of the baggage that his parents had created and He did not wish that the innocent boy be put through that torment; so our Father took him home to be with Him.

Now these were just some of the testimonies that our Father left with David. And from these testimonies, David was able to draw so much strength, comfort and joy to sustain him through his life. Now what about you? What testimonies has our Father left in your life? What bears and lions have you conquered by His might? What dire situation did our Father deliver you from? And when you sinned, how did our Father restore you to the guilt-free and righteous state of mind that you are in now?

He was referring to the complex understandings in the old testament. And even that to him were illuminating and encouraging. Now what more us?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:7-11

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Mark 11:24

Could Jesus have made His words any simpler for us? Could He have made His love any more plain and accessible? David was able to find comfort in the old testament, in the Law of Moses, in which our Father said,

“For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,” Exodus 20:5

Even then, David found joy. Now how much more joyous and liberated we should feel when this is now our reality.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

So beloved, as we seek to continue on the straight and narrow, as we continue to live the life that our Father has charted out for us, as we seek to do the things which make no sense to the world but perfect sense to Him, let us take a page out of David’s play book and ask this of our Father.

“Look upon me and be merciful to me,As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.Direct my steps by Your word,And let no iniquity have dominion over me.Redeem me from the oppression of man,That I may keep Your precepts.Make Your face shine upon Your servant,And teach me Your statutes.” Psalm 119:132-135

“For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy].” Romans 6:14 [AMPC]

And for every other challenge that comes your way, He will “…make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].” 2 Corinthians 9:8 [AMPC]

Because He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”. Ephesians 3:20

Times have changed, beloved. We are now living under an open Heaven of our Father’s blessings. It is alright if nothing makes sense now. Keep on following. Because in your heart of hearts, you know that because of Jesus, it will all make sense in the end.